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As Willow Ridge Trail rises, it passes through a brushy area with pretty red-leaved poison oak reaching out into the trail.

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05306-willow-ridge-log-550px.jpg I begin the dreaded climb up the Willow Ridge Trail that will take me to the top of Willow Ridge above Mississippi Lake.ThumbnailsA benign switchback on Willow Ridge Trail just beyond the log in the poison oak grove gives me a few more problems.I begin the dreaded climb up the Willow Ridge Trail that will take me to the top of Willow Ridge above Mississippi Lake.ThumbnailsA benign switchback on Willow Ridge Trail just beyond the log in the poison oak grove gives me a few more problems.I begin the dreaded climb up the Willow Ridge Trail that will take me to the top of Willow Ridge above Mississippi Lake.ThumbnailsA benign switchback on Willow Ridge Trail just beyond the log in the poison oak grove gives me a few more problems.I begin the dreaded climb up the Willow Ridge Trail that will take me to the top of Willow Ridge above Mississippi Lake.ThumbnailsA benign switchback on Willow Ridge Trail just beyond the log in the poison oak grove gives me a few more problems.I begin the dreaded climb up the Willow Ridge Trail that will take me to the top of Willow Ridge above Mississippi Lake.ThumbnailsA benign switchback on Willow Ridge Trail just beyond the log in the poison oak grove gives me a few more problems.

The 10-ton bike really doesn't want to be dragged over this log again (the third time in three years) and tips over backwards, standing on its hind feet in defiance.

I dislike this part of Willow Ridge Trail. This is the third consecutive Labour Day weekend that I've come to Coe Park and used this route. I'm always starting to work up a sweat when I reach here, but the brush seems to prevent air flow, so there's a stifling feeling that I get when I pass through here.

The narrow trail means that I, or the 10-ton bike's big fat saddlebags, or all of us, brush up against poison oak while passing through here. Despite my many allergies, I presume from having used this trail that I might not be allergic to poison oak. Still, I'm not about to intentionally rub up against poison oak twigs intentionally to test it further.

The difficulty I'm having getting the 10-ton bike over this log reminds me how much heavier my load is this year than on previous visits, when I was only staying three or four nights, rather than eight.